


Fathers and Daughters

by Corvicula1979



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, sharing grief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 05:03:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10550522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corvicula1979/pseuds/Corvicula1979
Summary: I thought that if the Rogue One crew had lived to meet Leia (post-Alderaan), Jyn and Leia would feel a certain amount in common. (As would the Jedha survivors.)Tagged as 'Somebody Lives,' not 'Everyone Lives', because basically, the team gets off Scarif - but everyone else who dies in canon is dead - specifically, their dads.I'm not trying to explain how they survive Scarif.The characters and such aren't mine, only my words are.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Not entirely sure how to tag this thing, so if you think there are tags that would be useful to add, let me know!

Jyn had found it hard to sleep, after all that had happened. Her memories didn't leave her alone: when it wasn't Scarif, it was Jedha City. And when it was neither of those it was her ... it was Eadu. And that was before she fell asleep. Her unconscious mind gave her no peace either. So really, it was no surprise when the small hours of the night found her wandering the quiet halls of the base. She headed to the mess with the thought of a soothing hot mug of something. She was surprised to find someone already there: Princess Leia, nursing her own mug.  
They'd met before this, of course. As soon as she'd returned to base after her rescue, the Princess had come to visit the team personally, while they were still mostly confined to the medical ward, to thank them for their courageous service. And since then, occasionally they'd been at the same strategy meetings.  
Jyn realized, though, that she'd only ever seen the Princess - her public face, serene and stoic. This was just-Leia she was seeing. She sat at one of the tables, her gaze focused on nothing in particular, her mug clearly forgotten between her hands. Her hair was in a single, simple braid, which Jyn supposed was how she wore it to bed.  
It was evident Leia was deeply lost in thought. Jyn crossed the hall, made herself a tisane, returned and sat down at the table beside her, and Leia showed no outward sign that she'd noticed. Jyn knew the other woman was a few years younger than her, but this was the first time she'd looked like it. This wasn't the confident, competent young politician. This was a barely-adult, very young woman whose whole world had just been turned upside down and she looked more than a little lost.  
Jyn knew what that felt like.  
After a few sips of her own drink, she asked, "Can't sleep?"  
Leia didn't startle, so perhaps she had been aware of her. "Every time I close my eyes tonight, I see ... I keep seeing ..." she didn't sob, but the words were clearly stuck in her throat. "You?"  
"Same. I mean, my memories, obviously, not yours, but same problem."  
They'd both been looking forward, not at each other, but Leia turned and looked at her, really looked. It didn't feel like she was judging, though. Just ... considering. Jyn wasn't one to shy away, so she looked right back. They stayed like that for several long moments, until Jyn looked down to take cover Leia's hand with her own, and about the same time Leia let out a long breath, not quite a sigh. When Leia spoke again, it was softly. "Tell me about Galen."  
The request was only surprising in that Jyn had meant to be the one offering comfort and a sympathetic ear to Leia, not the other way around. "There's not much to tell. I only saw him for a few minutes, before he died. Before that I hadn't seen him since I was a little girl."  
"Even so. Tell me about him."  
"He adored me. I mean, I know both my parents loved me. But Mama was the disciplinarian, the one who got angry. I got her temper, I think." Jyn gave a rueful little laugh. "But Papa was always gentle. And I always felt safe and loved with him."  
"He was a good father."  
"And a good man. I believe that, I just wish everyone else did." Leia squeezed her hand, and Jyn's breath caught on a sob, and she realized belatedly she'd started to cry. "He didn't have to die. He shouldn't have died. I ... I was holding him. At least ... I don't regret that I got to see him one last time."  
"I think, from what you've said ... Out of all the possible ways to die, he would have been glad it was in his daughter's arms."  
Jyn nearly choked, holding back the urge to sob in earnest. "I love him so much," she whispered.  
"I know."  
They were silent for a good two minutes while Jyn fought to get herself under control. Finally, she turned and asked Leia, "Tell me about Bail." She knew that Leia had lost her mother too, and everyone else, with the destruction of her home - but they were talking about fathers, now, not mothers, not surrogate parental figures; Leia hadn't asked her about Saw, and she didn't ask her about Breha.  
And Leia did. "I always knew I was adopted," she began. "And I always knew it didn't matter. They both had so much love. But it's like you said, I was the apple of his eye, and I've always been daddy's girl." And she continued, for a long time. After all, she had her whole life's worth of memories of her father, and an adult's perspective, unlike Jyn. Sometime while she was speaking, she came to lean against Jyn, and Jyn put her arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. When Leia came to an end, she finished by saying, "The thing is, the scope of the destruction ... at some level it all feels unreal. At the same time, I know he's gone, they're gone, I feel it, it's killing me, and yet a part of me can't believe it. Because just everything, gone in a blink. I can't process it."  
There wasn't much Jyn could say to that.  
A heavy hand came down on Leia's shoulder, and a shadow fell on them both. Jyn cursed herself, what had happened to her situational awareness? But she immediately recognized it was not a threat. It was Baze.  
Leia turned halfway around to look up at him, and his expression was softer than Jyn had ever seen on him, except around their little family of six.  
"Tell me about Alderaan," he rumbled.


End file.
